​Get 'sugar smart' with free app

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Parents and carers know that it's important to ensure their children don't consume too much sugar.

However, there are surprisingly large amounts of sugar lurking in everyday food and drinks.

NHS Lewisham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is supporting Public Health England's new 'Lets Get Sugar Smart' campaign which aims to provide families with the knowledge and tools they need to help them cut down on sugar.

The campaign includes a new Sugar Smart app which parents and carers in Lewisham can use to find out how much total sugar is in every day food and drink.

Dr Marc Rowland, a local GP and Chair of NHS Lewisham CCG, said:

"Children might seem fine on the outside but too much sugar can lead to the build-up of harmful fat on the inside that we can't see.

"This fat around their vital organs can cause serious disease such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers in the future.

"The new Sugar Smart app is quick and easy to use as you simply scan the barcode of the food or drink product and it will tell you how many sugar cubes it contains."

The free app is available to download from itunes or google play.

The biggest source of sugar for children – around 30 per cent - is sugary drinks.

Around 29 per cent comes from biscuits, cakes and breakfast cereals, 22 per cent from sweets, chocolate, table sugar, jams and other sweet spreads and 12 per cent from yoghurts, fromage frais, ice-cream, and other dairy desserts.

New official guidelines announced in July 2015, recommend that the maximum added sugar intake for four to six-year-olds is no more than 19g per day – the equivalent of five sugar cubes. The recommended amount for seven to 10-year-olds is no more than 24g per day – or six sugar cubes.

Children between four and 10 on average consume 5,543 sugar cubes through their food and drink each year – that's more than the total body weight of an average five-year-old child.

On average, there are nine sugar cubes in a can of cola, over five sugar cubes in a sugary yoghurt and five sugar cubes in a muffin.